Ex-scholars | sport-newcastle

Scholar: Sarah Harvey (Fencer)

May 2019 update: After a frustrating time with injury, Sarah's arm is now fully recovered. Her first competition back was the Merseyside Open in February, where Sarah came 14th (out of 54), unfortunately being put out of the competition by the eventual winner. Sarah has also regained her place on the Edinburgh University team that competes in the British University & Colleges (BUCs) league. They won the 'Champions League' (being the highest of all the leagues) to become the best university fencing team in Britain. In the summer Sarah will graduate from being a junior to a senior fencer.

January 2019 update: Sarah has struggled with injury this term and consequently has been unable to fence since September. After extensive physio treatment Sarah is aiming to return to competitive fencing in the New Year when she hopes to help Edinburgh University retain their women's BUCs fencing title.

September 2018 update: Putting study before sport for a few months really paid off for Sarah. Her outstanding A-level results of A*A*A secured her a place at Edinburgh University. She will continue her fencing development there with the excellent University fencing team. Despite a shoulder injury prior to the Commonwealth Championships Sarah was able to help the Scottish team come 3rd. The picture shows Sarah with her bronze medal. This result helped contribute to Sarah's selection as non-travelling reserve for the Scottish Senior Commonwealths in Canberra in November.

May 2018 update: Despite having to focus on her 'A'-levels, Sarah has still been busy competing and training for the Junior Commonwealth Fencing Championships this summer. Her 5th place at the Glasgow Open was her best result recently. Sarah also took time out from her revision to fence in front of a large audience at a fund raising event during half time of a Newcastle Eagles game, which was good preparation for the Commonwealths. Following her exams, Sarah's schedule gets very busy. The Junior Commonwealths take place this July in Newcastle followed immediately by the Junior Nationals in August. Good results in these two events will help Sarah secure her place in the Great Britain team for 2018/19.

About Sarah: Sarah started fencing for fun when she was 10 years old and began competing 3 years later. In the last 5 years Sarah has done exceptionally well at her chosen sport. She has gained success at u15, u20, u23 and senior level; locally, regionally and nationally. As a cadet Sarah won the Scottish Championships in 2014 and 2015 and returned in 2017 to take the silver medal in their Seniors Open. Sarah has recently been selected to represent Great Britain at u20 level in a World Cup event in Germany in October.

As Sarah enters her last year of A-level study at Gosforth Academy she will be working doubly hard to balance academic success with her fencing opportunities. Whether calculating angles of attack will help her with her Further Maths 'A'-level remains to be seen! On being told of her selection as a scholar Sarah said, "I am delighted to become a Sport Newcastle Scholar and I can't wait to get started."

Former Scholar: Alex Wise (Archer)

January 2021 update: Alex must have found the last year very frustrating. In March he was on the verge of having his selection for the Tokyo Olympics confirmed, only for Covid-19 to dash his hopes for at least 12 months. A lack of competition thereafter meant Alex had to practice and train at home like many other athletes. For someone who had been used to travelling the world to compete at the highest level, it must have been quite a change to be shooting arrows in his back garden, as opposed to on the competition fields of Shanghai, Antalya or Minsk.

More recently, due to Alex's elite sport exemption, he has been been able to train with the national squad in the U.K. and abroad. Selection trials for the Olympics take place this coming March and Alex is hoping that he can regain his form from last year and secure his place in the G.B. team for Tokyo 2021.

Alex will end his 3 year Sport Newcastle scholarship at the end of April. His rise from Rising Star to one of the top 3 senior Great Britain archers has been nothing short of unbelievable for someone so young. His rapid progress resulted in him being awarded the Young Sporting Achievement Award at our Annual Dinner in 2020. He is a rare talent who works extremely hard at his sport. In what is a high pressure event, Alex stands out due to his cool, calm demeanor. Yet, he is a tough competitor and doesn't know when he is beaten. These fine qualities will undoubtedly stand him in good stead as he goes on to represent his country, his club and (not forgetting) Sport Newcastle for many years to come.

January 2020 update: It's been an intensive period of training for Alex in his quest to secure his place on the G.B. Olympic team to Tokyo. One competition he did compete in was the National finals at the end of September when he came 2nd. Since then he has been to training camps in Cyprus, Turkey and France and hopes that these will stand him in good stead to be selected for the 3 man team to represent Great Britain at Tokyo 2020.

September 2019 update: Alex has had a fantastic few months of competition. At the Senior World Championships he shot an international best to help the GB team secure an Olympic quota place for Tokyo. Very soon afterwards Alex got a feel for what it will be like in a year's time by competing at the Olympic test event in Tokyo. He came up against a member of the Korean team that won gold in Rio 2016. Despite losing this match, the experience was invaluable and proved to Alex that he is capable of holding his own against the very best in the world.

In August, Alex became senior British champion, scoring a clean sweep of 1st places throughout the course of the weekend competition. An amazing achievement for someone who in archery terms is still quite 'new' to the sport.

Madrid to compete in the World Youth Championships was Alex's next stop. Despite Alex shooting his best ever ranking round and being ranked 3rd individually, the GB team finished 4th overall, just missing out on the bronze medal. However, this completed a very productive and successful summer's competition. It's now down to some intensive indoor training this winter in preparation for the Olympics next year.

May 2019 update: At the end of March Alex competed in the Great Britain trials in Turkey. After an intensive week of competition, in which Alex improved his personal best by 20 points, he ended up 2nd overall. As a result Alex was chosen for the 4 man team to compete in 2 world Cup stages in Shanghai and Antalya. Alex will then be competing to become one of the 3 team members to represent Great Britain at the World Championship and European Games. At these events Olympic quota places can be secured, which is the ultimate goal for the G.B. team this year.

January 2019 update: Alex and his two team mates just missed out on a medal by 1 point in the European Championships in Poland. However, their performance qualified them to compete at the European Games in Minsk later this year. The highlight of Alex's season followed soon after in the National Finals, which is contested by the top 8 archers of the year, and Alex won. This is a fantastic achievement, especially considering, Alex's age and the level of the competition he faced. Just before Christmas Alex competed in the national indoor championships and came away with a bronze medal. Next up for Alex is a trip to Nimes for a World Cup event where he will be defending the title he won last year.

September 2018 update: Alex's 'globe-trotting' to compete internationally has continued. In June he competed at the junior European Championships in Greece and then moved on to Berlin to represent Great Britain in a senior World Cup event. In August Alex was back on home soil competing at the national championships as a senior achieving a very creditable 3rd place overall (his last competition before he turned 18). Alex's next challenge comes at the European Team Championships in Poland, where he is hopeful of further success.

About Alex: Alex's first experience of archery was on a family holiday in Turkey. When he
returned home he enrolled on a course at the 'Bowmen of Walker' club at the start of 2015. Since then his progress has been amazing. Within a year he was breaking club, regional and national records, including smashing a 25 year old junior national record by scoring an almost perfect 595 out of 600.

In just over 2 years Alex achieved selection to compete for Great Britain and won individual and team gold medals in the European Youth Championships in Croatia in July 2017. Selection to the G.B. senior team soon followed. At the start of 2018 Alex won the prestigious indoor World Cup event in Nimes, beating a Frenchman in the final! In May this year Alex won his first senior medal with a 3rd place in a team event at the World Cup in Turkey in May.

Alex's interest in sport extends to his studies. He is currently studying Sport and Exercise Science at Tyne Metropolitan College and will be continuing his studies next year at Sunderland University.